Something Old and Someone New with Empire Racing at Daytona ARCA Race

(MOORESVILLE, NC – FEB. 15, 2012) Empire Racing heads to Daytona with something old and something new. “New” is Ben Leslie, newly named as crew chief for the No. 82 Roush Yates Engines Ford Fusion. Competing in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, Empire’s driver, Sean Corr will be behind the wheel of the “old” Ford Fusion racer.

“We have a new car this year it was actually our backup car last year,” explained Corr, adding that in testing the team “put the same setup on both cars and this car beat the other car hands down so ‘this has got to be the primary car this year’” they decided.

Joining the team full time after a one-race appearance in the pits last year at Kansas is crew chief Ben Leslie. “This is a great opportunity to be working with a growing team like Empire Racing,” Leslie said. “I had the opportunity to work with Sean at Kansas last year. He has a very good feel for the car and excellent ‘car control’. The whole organization is dedicated to putting out the best equipment every race.”

Leslie’s career as crew chief includes time at Roush Racing, where he guided Matt Kenseth to Rookie of the Year and Mark Martin to a runner-up finish in points, with more time on the pit box for Wood Brothers, Yates Racing, Hall of Fame racing and Roush Fenway Racing, where he guided Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s efforts.

Sean Corr made his racing debut in 1999 at Orange County Fair Speedway (OCFS) in Middletown, New York competing in the DIRTcar Series. As the 1999 season served as a learning curve for the then 15-year-old Goshen, New York native, Corr returned to competition in 2000 and was crowned Rookie of the year.

Coming off a 2011 ARCA racing season when he finished all 19 races and placed ninth in points at year’s end, Corr began racing in 1999 at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, NY where he earned Rookie of the Year honors in 2000.

The next racing season brought success, with a number of wins en route to the Pure Stock Division Championship. Over the next seven years Corr earned the Sportsmanship of the Year award in 2003, and the Expert Pro Stock Championship in 2005, with more than 30 top-five finishes and an impressive 18 career wins. He also added the Super DIRT Week Series to his resume in 2006 competing at New York Fair Speedway in Syracuse, New York. Earning Rookie of the Year honors at NYFS and the Hard Charger Award, Corr also earned his second Sportsmanship of the year award at OCFS and was runner-up in championship point standings.

In 2007 Corr began taking a different approach and participated as a Speed Tech Driving School instructor at tracks such as Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Kentucky Speedway and the legendary Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway. When not serving as an instructor, he returned to the dirt track competition at OCFS and earned his third Sportsmanship of the Year Award.  In 2008 Corr decided to return to his racing roots by competing at New York Fair Speedway earning the Super DIRT Week Series Pro Stock Champion honors.

2009 proved to be the biggest leap for Corr’s auto racing career propelling him into the ever-growing ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Corr made the transition from dirt to asphalt look easy by racing to three top-15 finishes in four starts. Corr also earned starts at some of ARCA’s pivotal tracks of Chicagoland Speedway and Kentucky Speedway respectively.

In 2010, Corr and his Empire Racing John Bellesfield led Excel Motorsports team grew from a four race schedule to a six-race schedule. Despite fielding fast cars, Lady Luck bit the team at Texas Motor Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, while running in the top-seven respectively. Still, the new stock car team would produce a strong 14th place finish in the season-opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Additional top-20 outings included a career-best 12th at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway after starting 18th. Corr also negotiated an 18th place finish at Michigan International Speedway and a 16th at the second and final Pocono (Pa.) Raceway event after nailing his first top-10 qualifying run of eighth.

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For more on Sean Corr, Empire Racing and marketing partnership opportunities for the 2012 racing season, please visit empireracingllc.com.

Connect with Sean Corr and Empire Racing through Facebook by clicking here.  Tweet with Sean Corr through Twitter @EmpireRacingLLC. 

Are you FORD tough? Connect with Roush Yates Performance Products and Roush Yates Engines through their official web site at roushyatesparts.com.

About Empire Racing: 
Established in 2009, Empire Racing LLC. (empireracingllc.com) is a two-tier professional Motorsports organization consisting of dirt and asphalt competition. Sean Corr, a 26-year old hailing from Goshen, New York pilots the team’s automobiles in the DIRTcar Series and Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). In 2011, the team will attempt to run for a championship in the ARCA Racing Series with aspirations of moving into the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The team is headquartered in Goshen, New York with an additional operation in Mooresville, North Carolina.